Bergamo

Bergamo has no sea and no beaches of its own. In summer, lake swimming is the alternative. Lake Iseo is the nearest, with lidos and grassy shores around Sarnico and Lovere, and the Lecco arm of Lake Como is easy to reach as well. By July the water reaches about 23°C. Most shores are pebble, grass or concrete platforms rather than sand. It makes a pleasant hot-weather day out, but nobody picks Bergamo for the water.

Bergamo's cooking is Lombard mountain food. The signature dish is casoncelli, stuffed pasta served with butter, sage and pancetta. Polenta comes with nearly everything, alongside braised meats, game and mushrooms from the valleys. The surrounding valleys make some of Italy's best cheeses, including Taleggio, Branzi and the blue Strachitunt, and the cheese counters in the upper town are worth a slow visit. The local wine is Valcalepio, and Franciacorta sparkling wine comes from just over the provincial border.

In the Città Alta, trattorias and pastry shops line the old streets, and you will see the sweet polenta e osei cake everywhere. The lower town has more everyday restaurants and aperitivo bars. The province also has a serious fine-dining tier. Range beyond Italian food is thin.

The Città Alta is the reason to come. It is a walled hilltop town, almost complete, ringed by Venetian fortifications from the 1500s that are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At its heart, Piazza Vecchia leads into a cluster of buildings: the Palazzo della Ragione, the Romanesque basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with its lavish Baroque interior, and the Cappella Colleoni, whose marble Renaissance front is one of the finest in Lombardy.

Below the hill, the Accademia Carrara is a gallery of real stature, with Raphael, Bellini, Mantegna and Lotto. The lower town adds the GAMeC modern art gallery and broad early twentieth-century streets. It all fits into a day or two.

Going out in Bergamo means a long aperitivo, then wine bars and a few pubs. In the lower town, people gather around Via XX Settembre and Borgo Santa Caterina. In the Città Alta, on summer evenings, people drink in the squares and along the walls. University students keep a handful of bars busy, but clubs are few and most of them sit out on the edge of the city. The evening tends to end around midnight. Anyone after a real night out heads to Milan.

The Alps begin almost at the edge of town. The Colli di Bergamo park climbs straight up from the upper town to San Vigilio, with woodland paths and views over the plain. To the north, Val Brembana and Val Seriana run deep into the Orobie Alps, where there are rifugi, high lakes and serious summer hiking. The Serio waterfall, among the tallest in Italy, flows on a few set days each year. Small ski areas such as Foppolo operate in winter.

Lake Iseo and Lake Como both offer lakeside walking, sailing and cycling. There are good road and gravel rides in the foothills and plenty of flat cycling across the plain. For most of the mountains, a car makes things much easier.

Bergamo makes an excellent base for Lombardy. Milan is under an hour by train, with the Duomo, the Last Supper and the Brera all within easy reach. The lakes are closer still. Lecco and the towns of Lake Como are within an hour. Lake Iseo is nearer again, and its car-free island, Monte Isola, has fishing villages.

Crespi d'Adda, a UNESCO-listed factory village, is half an hour away. Brescia's Roman and Lombard remains are about an hour by train. Cremona, with its violin-making tradition, and Verona are both around an hour and a half. You can tour the Franciacorta wine country in an afternoon, and Mantua is a long but rewarding day out.

Bergamo is calm, safe and small enough that children rarely get tired of it. Most love the funicular rides up to the Città Alta and on to San Vigilio. A walk along the Venetian walls, with a gelato on the way, makes an easy afternoon, and the city parks have playgrounds. The steep cobbled lanes of the upper town are hard work with a buggy, though.

The best outings for children are just outside the city. Leolandia, at Capriate San Gervasio near the Adda, is a long-established theme park about twenty minutes away by car. Its rides and shows are designed for younger children, and it has a miniature Italy of famous landmarks. Le Cornelle, a wildlife park at Valbrembo at the foot of the hills northwest of the city, makes an easy half day. Families get the most from a stay by adding days at the lakes or in the mountain valleys.

Bergamo is a city on two levels. The flat lower town and the hilltop Città Alta are joined by a funicular, with a second one running higher to San Vigilio. City buses cover the climb and the station, and the airport is a short bus ride from the centre. A light-rail line runs up into Val Seriana. Both towns are easy to walk once you are in them, though the climb between them is steep on foot. Trains reach Milan, Brescia and Lecco directly. For the upper valleys and the lake shores, a car saves time.

Most everyday shopping is in the lower town, along Via XX Settembre and the Sentierone, where Italian chains and mid-range fashion line the arcaded streets. In the Città Alta, the narrow main lane is packed with delicatessens, cheese shops, bakeries and wine sellers. Local cheeses, salumi and Valcalepio wine make the best things to take home. There is little luxury or design shopping. Serious fashion shoppers go to Milan, under an hour away.

Bergamo is mid-range for Western Europe and moderate for northern Italy. Hotels in the lower town are fairly priced for a city with this much to see, which is why many travellers use it as a base for exploring Lombardy by train. Lower-town trattorias and aperitivo bars are reasonable, and city buses and the funicular cost little. Rooms and restaurants inside the Città Alta are pricier, and weekend stays in summer fill up. Overall it is comfortable rather than cheap.

Bergamo was the birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti, and opera is the core of its stage life. The Teatro Donizetti in the lower town hosts a season of opera, concerts and prose theatre. Each autumn it stages a festival devoted to Donizetti's works, which draws serious opera lovers. The Teatro Sociale in the Città Alta adds smaller productions, and Bergamo Jazz is a spring festival with a long history. Between these, the programme is that of a provincial city. La Scala in Milan is within easy reach for an evening.

Bergamo has no bathing culture in the city itself, but spa towns are close. San Pellegrino Terme, about forty minutes up Val Brembana, is a Belle Époque resort famous for its mineral water. Its thermal spa sits in a grand historic setting. Trescore Balneario, to the east, has sulphur springs that have been used since Roman times. The Città Alta helps you slow down: early mornings and evenings are quiet, the walls make a peaceful walk, and the cafés set no pace. Beyond these, wellness means hotel spas.